Fitting Strasbourg into intinerary

Nancy, I'm researching the same thing for summer 2013, so far I've found that Strasbourg is a 2+ hour train ride from Paris, less than 70 euro each way, so you could make it an overnight trip or a very long daytrip.

Nancy, Travel from Paris to Strasbourg would be easier than from Nice. Strasbourg is the "second headquarters" for the European Union, so the transportation connections are good and the distance is shorter. The shortest travel time is ~2H:18M from Paris Est via TGV (direct). It could be done as a day trip, but one night would allow more time to explore the town and the magnificent Cathedral. It would help to know where you plan on going after Strasbourg? Happy travels!

Hi Ken, I have a feeling you must be a world traveler as I think you helped me out with Switzerland and Northern Italy last year. In any case, I am retired and have the time so thought I would like to go South to Nice and see the "best" cities as Rick Steve mentions. I think I would like to rent an apt. in Paris for a week first and then head out from there. I saw Stasbourg on TV and it looked beautiful so that's where I got that idea. Do you have any suggestions? It is possible we can rent a car but certainly not in Paris. Would appreciate any advice that you have. Also, if you have been to Germany (which I have not) would you suggest to go there after Strasborg rather than southern France? Thanks again.

Hi All! I am spending a week in Paris, then going to Strasbourg on my way to Munich then Berlin.
Strasbourg will be my and my 18 year old granddaughter's only other exposure to France other than Paris. Does anyone know about staying in a rural area outside of the city to get an non-touristy different experience? Hope this is ok to chime in here, Nancy! Kris

Nancy, I'm not sure I'd describe myself as a "world traveller" as there are many places I haven't seen yet, including the far east and South America. I'm retired too, so my travel these days is limited by finances. While it would be nice to visit the "best cities" that Rick suggests, which ones to choose will likely depend on which ones interest you the most, and also the most efficient transportation route between them. My opinion on Strasbourg mirrors that of the Guidebook. I stayed in Colmar and visited Strasbourg on a day trip, and I felt that was absolutely the best choice. I really enjoyed the small town ambience of Colmar, the canals and the wonderful Unterlinden Museum. THIS Photo shows visitors enjoying a riparian dining experience next to the canals. If you decide to visit the Alsace, getting to the western part of Germany is very easy. There are lots of possibilities including the Black Forest region, towns along the Rhine and Mosel rivers, Rothenburg or even Munich (I made a return visit to Munich in Sept.). One of the most scenic parts of the Rhine is the section near the towns of Bacharach and St. Goar. Some prefer to stay in St. Goar, but my preference is Bacharach. There are also some very scenic towns along the Mosel, and while there you could visit Burg Eltz. Transportation to the Castle is a bit of a challenge at times, so hiking up from Moselkern is often an easier method. One other advantage of that area is that it's close to Frankfurt, so if that's the last part of the trip, it's easy to get a flight home. Nice is also a wonderful city, and offers some great sightseeing opportunities (Eze, Villefranche, Monaco, etc.) and some great Museums. So many places to consider..... Cheers!

Wow beautiful picture. Thanks for all the suggestions Ken, a lot to think about.

I was in Strasbourg and Colmar this month as part of a Christmas Markets trip. I arrived mid-morning on the TGV from Stuttgart, dropped my luggage in a locker for the day, then went on to Colmar by local train. The Old Towns of both places are charming. Except for the wonderful cathedral in Strasbourg, I enjoyed Colmar more and was glad I chose to stay there. After a small taste of Alsace, it is now on my list for a longer trip. It seemed to me that it would be a great place to explore by car for a week, either in spring or during the grape harvest. I just took a peek at the French train website (SNCF). It looks like a 9-10 hour trip from Strasbourg to Nice, with at least one train change.

@Chani, "I enjoyed Colmar more and was glad I chose to stay there."
My sentiments exactly! I felt the same when I was in that area. I felt quite "at home" in Colmar but found Strasbourg to be dreadfully crowded and on that particular day, I was glad to get out of there! Cheers!

I have stayed in Strasbourg a few times and really loved it...once was off-season. I did take the train from there to Paris and it was really easy. I have not been to Colmar, but have to agree that in the summer Strasbourg was very crowded, but we loved just wandering around and if I remember correctly took a river boat cruise that was delightful.

We visited the Alsace region in April this year. Loved Strasbourg and Colmar, but the absolute highlight was the smaller towns in the region we visited - Riquewhir and Kayserberg. If I had my time again, I would stay in Riquewhir and do day trips to Colmar and Strasbourg.

We flew into Strasbourg on our 2010 trip to France, stayed two nights there and also two nights in Colmar. Both are very worthwhile. The Unterlinden museum is spectacular. I don't think it's a no brainer at all to stay in Colmar and day trip to Strasbourg vs. the other way around. Strasbourg felt a little more authentic to me, as you might expect from a town of its size. We easily found a nice cafe that had plenty of locals near the center, for example. The best sights/activities in Strasbourg are visiting the cathedral, taking the river cruise around the old town, and just walking around. I am not one of those folks that shrinks from running into other tourists as if they had the plague, but Colmar did seem a little more impacted by the presence of other tourists. That said, compared to more mainstream stops in France, neither was especially overwhelmed by tourists in April-May. We had a rental car and also stopped in a number of the smaller Alsatian towns. The most memorable was Kaysersburg, which also seemed more on the authentic side while still having a lot of medieval buildings.

Metz is another small city, in Lorraine rather than Alsace, that can be easily reached by train from Salzbourg. www.tgv-europe.com shows a fare of about 25 euros if bought 90 days ahead, for a ride of under two hours. Metz-Paris is just as easy. Metz has an attractive cathedral and nice waterfront park, but is better known now for its new branch of the Pompidou art museum in nearly as striking a building as the original in Paris. Older architecture shows German/Belgium influences and so does the cuisine, including the beers (thank goodness.) Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the city http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metz
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